Stefan Merrill Block has written novels. But in his first memoir, “Homeschooled,” he’s writing the story of his life — and it’s the first Read With Jenna pick of 2026.
“‘Homeschooled’ is a beautiful debut memoir. I loved its raw honesty and the very American story of one little boy growing up in a family where love is obvious but so is dysfunction,” Jenna says.
She calls it a story about “forgiveness, hope and how we heal,” and the “perfect read for the first month of the year.”
“Homeschooled” details what happened after Block relocated to Plano, Texas with his mom, dad and older brother. His mom, reluctant to let Block leave the nest, pulled him out of public school for her own homeschooling curriculum.
Block describes his mom’s erratic moods and unusual educational approach, which included him creating his own studies. He was often lonely and describes other adults in his life not realizing, or choosing not to realize, what was happening.
He tells TODAY.com part of him always planned to write a memoir. “When I was feeling very lonely and unwitnessed, I thought, ‘There’s a reader out there witnessing all this.’ It’s meaningful to me that I was able to give that to my former self,” he says.
For Block, the process of writing the memoir, which he only started after his mother died, has been illuminating and helped him reframe how he thinks of his younger self.
“What I’m discovering from this process of telling the truth and excavating this history is I often felt so powerless in the situation but the story of that time makes me capable of so much. There’s power to be found in what feels powerless.”
He hopes readers take away that “every life is worthy of a memoir, and every life contains a great story.”
Block has previously written the novels “The Story of Forgetting,” “The Storm at the Door” and “Oliver Loving.”
